WHEN the Gwydir River flooded over the streets and paddocks of the North West district earlier this year, many producers feared the worst.
Some lost nearly everything and carried on as best they could, while others were not nearly as badly impacted and were able to see through to the expected bumper harvest.
One such producer was Susie Long, who along with her husband Rob have enjoyed one of the best pecan harvests in their 20 years in the industry.
The Long's property, Goorabah at Pallamallawa near Moree in the state's North West, sits along the banks of the river and as the floods reached their highest, much of their pecan tree grove was under water.
However, despite what could only be called a natural disaster, the Long's operation Pally Pecans completed the harvest of its 600 trees last week.
"It is one of the better harvests we've ever had," Susie Long said.
RELATED READING
"The flood that came through our property was only four centimetres less than the 2012 flood, so it was a big flood event and it held our harvest back to finishing just last week.
"Thankfully it being a good season, the fruit we had washed away in the flood before we were able to harvest didn't end up impacting us too badly and because it was a good season we were able to come through better than we would have in a smaller year."
Planting their first trees on their 68 hectare property in 2000, this year's harvest was a special one for the Long's after several years of drought and waiting for the 2ha of trees to establish.
Planting their first trees on their 68 hectare property in 2000, this year's harvest was a special one for the Longs after many years of drought and waiting for the 2ha of trees to establish.
"We planted 700 when we started in 2000, our first crop was in 2008 and cockatoos got the lot, so 2009 was our first production year," Susie said.
"We're probably down to about 600 trees but that number of trees is still worth putting a machine through because we are probably going to get in the realms of possibly five to six tonnes of nut this year, which is massive for us."
The Long's are in close proximity to Strahmann Webster's major pecan operation, which produces around 80 per cent of Australia's pecans, while 80 per cent of the country's growers are based in the state's North Coast and Northern Rivers regions.
Australian Pecan Association president Scott Clark said while the Long's had enjoyed a stellar season, it was not the case for all producers.
"It has been a bit of a mixed bag this year and I think that may be because a lot of the trees are still recovering from the drought and some growers are saying they've had their best harvest ever while others are right down," Mr Clark said.
"Given Strahmann farms account for so much of the total yield for the industry, it really depends on how they go, but I would say this harvest is probably going to be about average or maybe even a little bit down."
Mr Clark said it was not all bad news because some regions, such as Central Queensland, had flourished this year.
"There is only a small handful of producers up there, but all of them are saying they've got a pretty good crop going," he said.
"From what I understand, Stahmann's are looking at an above-average year, while along the coast there seems to be the greatest variability.
"Most of our market is domestic, in fact we are at times not producing enough, some of it has to be imported and I think it could be fair to expect that number may to increase."
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacting several sectors, Susie believes it has done wonders for regional businesses and produce.
"I think the pandemic did give not just us a boost, but a lot of rural boutique businesses in the bush," she said.
"Our local tourist bureau has advised us that tourists really want to know what grows locally and they want to walk away with a product that is made locally.
"Fortunately for us, we can really target that market through our own production of selling nut-in-shell, processing for flavoured varieties and raw kernel.
"We will probably use close to 3.5t, so once we reach the point of more than 4t we begin to look at outside markets.
"In previous years we've sold to the Flemington Market in Sydney, so that could be another option, but we aren't on the scale to be looking at the export market.
"I think for us going forward, we have probably got to look at going more online with our business, but we really need to secure our back end in terms of having enough product to meet the demand you'll have in a timely and consistent fashion.
"We are going more into the processing side of things as well as trying to really build our brand, which I suppose is the next big challenge for us."
Sign up here to Good Fruit and Vegetables weekly newsletter for all the latest horticulture news each Thursday...